Whilst attending an event in Cornwall, I visited the Eden Project near St Austell. This is truly the 9th wonder of the world and should be visited by everyone on the planet, except that actually is not very eco-friendly.
Certainly if you get the chance you should go and make sure you take the children. One amazing fact I came away with amongst many. Eden plan to bore down 4 kilometers using the faults in the bedrock to force a way through. This will produce water and energy coming out of the ground at around 150 – 160 C. It will produce enough heat and energy to provide for the Eden Project and supply a further 4,000 houses. Wow!
Gordon Campbell Gray is the new chairman of the Considerate Hoteliers Association. Hailed as The Green Man in the Caterer & Hotelkeeper, GCG has long been noted for his constructive views on the environment and how the hotel industry can embrace green principles and still offer exemplary standards of service.
The elimination of waste is a hobby horse of Gordon Campbell Gray who is chairman of Campbell Gray Hotels with properties in London, Antigua, Beirut and France. “So much of what we offer guests because it supposedly epitomises luxury they do not want and therefore it invaribly gets wasted. Guests these days are far more in tune with what the real world is like, and expect hoteliers amongst others to be doing their bit to cut down on unnecessary gestures of opulence.”
Clearly there are messages here for fellow hoteliers, and the growing membership of CHA and its influence within the hotel industry is a positive sign the message that something must be done and ways must be changed is getting through.
The Caterer & Hotelkeeper which is running a Green Month during October is full of useful ideas and tips on sustainability, much of it offered by CHA members.
Two television programmes struck home over the last 24 hours. The first was The Land of the Lost Volcano in which scientists discovered new species by the dozen in the rain forests of Papau New Guinea. These animals once discovered had no fear and were happy to be picked up and studied. It was wonderful but the dreadful undercurrent was contained in the fact that loggers were only a few miles from the magnificent forests and if the forests went so would thousands of species of flora and fauna and probably the means of providing cures for many of the world’s diseases.
The second programme will stay with me for a very long time if not forever. Wounded was a programme about the rehabilitation of two soldiers who suffered appalling injuries in Afghanistan, one losing both legs and an arm, and the other both legs and impared sight. The work carried out by the surgeons and nurses was so humbling, only suprassed by the courage and bravery of the two soldiers. In years gone by they would not have survived, and I am sure there were times when they wished they hadn’t. I will never complain about any ache or pain again. It is nothing to what those guys went through and there will be many others to come to add to those who have been through it already.
I hope the world leaders swanning around in the US saw the programmes, particularly Wounded (I would have frog marched all politicians to a TV and ordered them to view it several times). Questions need to be asked and continue to be asked until all troops are properly equipped and protected against the beastliness and awfulness that goes on in these far off places in the name of democracy.
The FSA have now produced a report that says organic food is no better than food produced using pesticides and non-organic fertilisers, and there is hardly any difference in taste.
Well, they must be eating different organic food to what I have been sampling lately. Yes, it costs more and I have a choice as to whether I pay a little more, but it certainly tastes much better. But more importantly organic food is produced naturally without all the chemicals and rubbish used to produced non-organic food and you don’t need to be a scientist with a million letters after your name to know that that has to be healthier.
It’s been a while. However, I have been energised by a couple of happenings.
If there is a must see film, it is “The End of the Line” about the horrific plundering of the oceans by corporate entities with no thought for others, conservation or the outcome with governments worldwide standing by and letting it happen.
We have all heard about the sad state of our bee colonies who appear to be dying off in huge numbers. If we do not have bees to pollenate, it will have a dramatic effect on the natural food chain. One expert put forward a totally plausible theory that the bee’s sense of smell years ago stretched miles and allowed them to find flowers which they then pollenated. Now with all the polutants in the air that distance has been cut dramatically and therefore reduced the bee’s ability to create honey and pollenate. Food for thought.
One Aldwych London and the Radisson SAS Edinburgh were declared joint winners of the Considerate Hotel of the Year 2008 Award presented at a Gala Lunch at The Cavendish London on Monday 27th April. Other winners included Vanessa Scott of Strattons, Norfolk – Green Champion of the Year and Crowne Plaza London – The City, Green Team of the Year. Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Professor John Forte OBE and David Burner, Head Concierge at 51 Buckingham Gate, London. For more details see the CHA web site.
My first blog for a while. I am very angry, and yet in the great scheme of things the subject I am furious about doesn’t register highly on the important issues list.
A letter written in today’s DT indicated that at a recent meeting about crime in the community in the West Midlands, when asked to register on a handset if you were male or female, to general amusement a wag asked “What if you are transgendered?” The person chairing the meeting, to much laughter, replied that those people should press buttons A & B. Two days later the “chair” was marched off to the local police station questioned by a sergeant and inspector and given a warning because a complaint had been made about homophobia.
My point is this. Isn’t it about time our intensely PC authorities showed some real leadership and backbone and told whoever came forward with such drivel to stop wasting police time, get out more and get a life. It would be even better if the government of the day scrapped such laws that could be interpreted in this way but then that really is asking too much and I apologise unreservedly for making such an unreasonable suggestion.
Normal service on this blog will now be resumed after this totally out of character outburst.
Congratulations to Well Worth which has just opened in Dorchester, Dorset. The shop is run by the former manager of Woolworth’s which closed around Christmas with a large number of job losses and the new shop has taken over the Woolworth site so no change there then.
The shop has a similar concept to Woolworth but more dynamic, locally focussed and an all things to all people approach. Staff have their jobs back, the locals are in support and I wish Well Worth every success. Well worth going to see, and it appears there is considerable interest in the idea in other parts of the UK.
The heartiest of congratulations to Mat on winning the coveted title of Masterchef 2009. The title is thoroughly deserved and despite tough opposition from Andy and Christopher, the best man won.
Mat lives just up the road (ok, it’s a few country miles but in Dorset that’s nothing!) in Rampisham. We wish Mat continued success and wait to hear where and when he plans to open his restaurant. A queue is forming as we speak.
It is gratifying to see that companies throughout the world have indicated that they do not intend reduce their commitment to CSR in these hard economic times. Whilst there may be those who drop their green travel options because it impacts financially, the commitment to reduce energy costs (pretty sensible), conserve water (similar), support local businesses and communities (why not) and ensure companies wherein they have a business relationship have similar CSR policies in place remains a prime objective.
The annual opinion poll carried out by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and KDS suggested that CSR is very much here to stay. This of course sounds positive. After all you cannot turn CSR off and on like water or gas, and there is enough evidence to show that the application of CSR policies and being both a considerate and responsible hotel operator, can bring in more business. If you are not already, why not give it a try? If you are applying CSR, the future is bright, the future is green, turning to gold.
